This is the moment an alleged sniper and member of the pro-government forces was beaten by anti-government protestors in Kiev, as protestors took control of the presidential administration building.

As Ukrainian protesters said they had taken control of government offices and President Viktor Yanukovich fled the city, angry civilians kicked and shouted at members of the government, and could be seen tussling with an alleged sniper.

'He's (Yanukovich) not here, none of his officials or anyone linked directly to the administration are here,' Ostap Kryvdyk, a protest leader inside the grounds of the administration building, said.

Crowds of people swarmed the streets of Kiev as the under-fire president said he had no intention of stepping down, despite calls for him to give up his seat.

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An alleged sniper and member of the pro-government forces is beaten by anti-government protestors in Kiev

The regime of Ukraine's president appeared close to collapse on February 22 as the emboldened opposition took control of central Kiev

The opposition has taken control of key government and parliament positions and voted to immediately free its jailed leader Yulia Tymoshenko

An alleged sniper has a crucifix shoved in his face as a crowd grabs him. Thousands have people have swarmed Kiev's streets as their president has allegedly fled the country

The turmoil in Ukrainian parliament comes as former prime minister and opposition icon Yulia Tymoshenko has been released from prison.

Protesters in the Ukrainian capital claimed full control of the city Saturday following the signing of a Western-brokered peace deal aimed at ending the nation's three-month political crisis.

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They were seen demanding the resignation of their president and attacking politicians, a move which Mr Yanukovych branded 'a coup' and likened it to the rise of Nazis in the 1930s.

Viktor Yanukovych also says he has no intention of resigning or leaving the country. Hours after he and opposition leaders signed an agreement aimed at resolving the country's turmoil yesterday, Mr Yanukovych went to Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, the heartland of his support.

Today, he made the coup accusation in a televised statement.

The opposition has demanded a new election be held by May 25, as the pro-Russian leader's grip on power rapidly eroded following bloodshed in the capital.

The nation's embattled president, Viktor Yanukovych, reportedly had fled the capital for his support base in Ukraine's Russia-leaning east.

Ukraine's border guard service said that a leading governor and a mayor from the president's eastern base have fled to Russia.

The offices of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych have been left unguarded, with the protesters in full control of the streets surrounding the government district

Ukrainian opposition leader and head of the UDAR (Punch) party Vitaly Klitschko addresses anti-government protesters outside the Ukrainian Parliament building in Kiev

A suspected supporter of Ukraine's embattled president Viktor Yanukovych, center, is assaulted by anti-government protesters in Kiev

Anti-government protesters attack a deputy of the Party of Regions Vitaly Grushevsky (centre) outside the Ukrainian Parliament building

Yanukovych's whereabouts were unclear Saturday morning. Media outlets reported that he left Kiev for his native eastern Ukraine after surrendering much of his powers and agreeing to early elections by the end of the year.

But despite the promise of an election and significant concessions, protesters blame him for police violence and amassing too many powers and want him ousted immediately.

At a special parliament session today, Oleh Tyahnybok, head of the nationalist Svoboda party, called for discussion of impeachment.

The president's representative in parliament warned against splitting the country in two, an outcome that worries many but is increasingly seeming a possibility.

The country's western regions want to be closer to the EU and have rejected Yanukovych's authority in many cities, while eastern Ukraine — which accounts for the bulk of the nation's economic output — favors closer ties with Russia.

The opposition have called for elections to take place on May 25 and demanded that President Yanukovych stand down immediately

People gather at Independence Square during a funeral procession for anti-government protesters killed in clashes with the police in Kiev

Anti-government protesters sing the Ukrainian national anthem at the Independence square in central Kiev

People walk by a police water cannon brought by protesters to the Independence square

The president's concessions came as part of a deal intended to end violence that killed scores and left hundreds wounded in Kiev this week as snipers opened fire on protesters. It was the worst violence in Ukraine's modern history.

Andriy Parubiy, a leader of the protest camp on Independence Square, known as the Maidan, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that Yanukovych fled for Kharkiv, the center of Ukraine's industrial heartland. Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine from 1919-1934.

The claims of the president's departure could not be immediately confirmed, however.

A group of protesters in helmets and shields stood guard at the president's office today, with few police in sight.

Protesters booed opposition figures who took to a stage last night to present their deal with the president, which cuts Yanukovych's powers.

Demonstrators at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Independence Square, refuse to leave the square despite the agreement made between the government and the opposition

Protesters in the Ukrainian capital claimed full control of the city Saturday following the signing of a Western-brokered peace deal

A motion seeking the president's impeachment was submitted late Friday to the Ukrainian parliament, where members of Yanukovych's faction defected in droves to the opposition side, quickly passing constitutional amendments that trimmed his powers.

It wasn't clear if or when the impeachment motion would be put to a vote.

The standoff between the government and protesters escalated this week, as demonstrators clashed with police and snipers opened fire in the worst violence the country has seen since the breakup of the Soviet Union a quarter-century ago.

The Health Ministry put the death toll at 77 and some opposition figures said it's even higher.

The U.S., Russia and the 28-nation EU are deeply concerned about the future of Ukraine, a divided nation of 46 million.

The parliament on Friday quickly approved a measure that could free Yanukovych's arch-rival Tymoshenko, who has served two and a half years on a conviction of abuse of office, charges that domestic and Western critics have denounced as a political vendetta.

Legislators voted to decriminalize the count under which Tymoshenko was imprisoned, meaning that she is no longer guilty of a criminal offense.

However, Yanukovych must still sign that bill into law, and then Tymoshenko's lawyers would have to ask the court for her release from prison in Kharkiv, the city controlled by Yanukovych's loyalists where the opposition has little public following.

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Ukraine's president Yanukovich 'flees' Kiev as protesters claim control